Protect Life Act

Floor Speech

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Ms. MATSUI. Madam Speaker, I rise today to voice my strong opposition to the bill before us today.

This bill would impose crippling restrictions on a woman's ability to seek abortion services--services that are legal in this country and upheld by the Supreme Court.

The so-called ``Protect Life Act'' would effectively ban private insurance companies from offering abortion services.

I was shocked to learn that under this bill, a woman's life could be in danger in the event she needs emergency care--even if the emergency circumstances require an abortion--and that procedure is recommended by a doctor. This change in the current law would amount to an extreme and regressive policy.

Unfortunately, the bill before us is part of a larger attack on women's health, specifically on programs like Title X and organizations like Planned Parenthood.

Madam Speaker, let me tell you why it is so important that we maintain women's access to the full range of legal health care options.

Recently, I heard from Cathy, who has been a health educator for the past 13 years.

Cathy explained to me how the House Republican attacks on women's health would, ``Cut millions of American women off from birth control, cancer screenings, HIV tests, and other lifesaving care;'' that without the information and preventative services that these programs provide we are, ``Bound to accrue more expenses in reactive versus pro-active measures.''

These outrageous attacks would have a devastating impact on the women, men, and teens in our community.

At a time when we, as Members of Congress, should be debating and passing job legislation, we are instead debating whether or not to roll-back a woman's access to legal health services.

I urge my colleagues to reject this harmful bill.

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